Nice Things Said

Back Cover Blurb

Mad stood at the door of the temple. Ram leaned on him with one hand and walked with the help of her baton.

Ram signaled to him to take off his tunic as they came near the fire. She pulled at the star-shaped amulet that decorated her baton until it came off in her hand, exposing the baton's sharpened point, which she held over the fire until it was glowing red. She drew three circles on Mad's chest from a short distance. Then she pressed five lines into his flesh over his heart. With each touch of the baton's glowing point, he squeezed his eyes tightly from the pain. When the edges of these lines came together, everyone saw that they formed the symbol of Ninhursag: a star.

The woman assisting in the ritual handed Mad a bowl. As he raised the bowl over his head, he took an oath: "I am devoting myself to the service of Ninhursag. I am submitting my devotion and life to her. I will be a protector of peace and security in this land. I will not have pity on anyone who kills others or harms women and children. I take this oath before the Goddess Ninhursag and all of you to serve and protect this temple until I die."

He drank the white liquid and gave the bowl back to the woman. Then, with her help, he put on the leather tunic again and knelt in front of Ram, his chest throbbing from the branding.

Mad, a young priest in Ninhursag's temple, is taken from his ravaged village into slavery and marched to the Sumerian metropolis of Eridu. He becomes involved with an underground element, who have an intriguing plan to restore power to the banished goddess, Inanna, and save the land from its oppressors.

But Mad and his new friends are mistaken about many truths about the underworld and what Mad will eventually have to sacrifice to save Inannathe very thing he has been striving for all along.

This is a simple tale about simple people in a very complex world, but their fight for truth and freedom rings true for all time.

A Review

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M. Mehmet Unver's historical fantasy novel, Mad: A Free Man, is set in ancient times in southeastern Anatolia, commonly referred to as "the cradle of civilization" and homeland to the Sumerian civilization. It is about a young temple priest and his lifelong struggle for freedom, first from the rules of his village temple, and then from the sinister machinations of a strict religious hierarchy that rules the metropolis Eridu and will do anything to retain power.

Unver was born and raised in Batman, Turkey. He currently resides in Reutlingen, Germany. Mad: A Free Man, one of Unver's many novels, was translated from Turkish into English by Dr. Mert Arkanbas.

Mad is dedicated to the temple at a young age, but discontent with his lot in life from the beginning. He dreams of freedom outside the confines of village society, religion, and his family. He believes that by going out in a larger world, he will be free of these confines of responsibility.

His village is attacked by marauding soldiers looking for slaves and iron. Mad begins an adventure into a whole new world, full of danger and mysticism and jumps headlong into a rescue attempt to save the goddess, Inanna. He believes that if he fulfills his destiny in rescuing Inanna, he will finally be free.

Unver uses a simple writing style to portray the thoughts and doings of an Iron Age people, but Mad's ideas are large and scenes in the story add layers to our understanding of the character of this idealistic young man from thousands of years ago.

Mad: A Free Man will leave the reader with an understanding of what it means to thirst for freedomnot just physical freedom, but the freedom to love and believe in something more than what humans have to offer. Freedom to love and idolize someone bigger than just a mortal woman. This story leaves you with a feeling of having lived in another place and time, of having struggled for perfection.

Mad: A Free Man was published by Foremost Press. It can be ordered at ForemostPress.com and Amazon. ISBN-10: 1-936154-04-8
ISBN-13: 978-1-936154-04-3
184 pp, $12.97